


Two Sides, Same Coin

by HoneyBeeez



Category: Haikyuu!!, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Crossover, Gen, No quirks Au, basically izuku and oikawa bond over grumpy childhood bffs, online friends au, rated for bullying references, ships implied but not explored, this is mostly focusing on their friendships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-09
Updated: 2019-08-09
Packaged: 2020-08-13 18:57:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20179132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HoneyBeeez/pseuds/HoneyBeeez
Summary: Izuku turns to the internet for answers when his best friend becomes more and more distant. Somehow, he finds someone who knows exactly what he's dealing with.A fic written for the BNHAXHaikyuu zine!





	Two Sides, Same Coin

**Author's Note:**

> hi everyone! here's something I worked on for a zine, and sales are still open right now, until September 6th! if you like bnha and haikyuu, and want some quality crossover content, snag this zine while you can!!
> 
> Get them HERE!: https://heroesofthecourt.bigcartel.com

The facts were looking Izuku right in the face for years, but he was too scared to meet them head-on until now. And the fact is: Midoriya Izuku is losing his best friend.

It started when they first got into middle school. Katsuki suddenly stopped talking to him and, whenever he did talk to him, it was just to poke fun at him, careless teasing that almost went a step too far, but never crossed that line. They still hung out at each other’s houses after school, just like they did in grade school, and everything seemed just fine, so Izuku put up with the taunts at school. 

Izuku always thought that the teasing would die down eventually, but the reality is that the teasing and the taunting have only gotten  _ worse _ . The obvious distance and  _ isolation _ from someone he was once so close to is almost too much, and it’s all Izuku can do to keep from thinking: “I don’t want to lose my best friend.” If he  _ did _ think about it, he knows he’ll fall down the spiral and not be able to get out of it.

Because Katsuki  _ is _ his best friend, if he’s acting like it or not. He’s the only person that knows Izuku inside-out. And, well, Izuku would like to think that he’s the same for Katsuki. 

So maybe it’s a little desperate to go online and ask complete strangers how to approach his not-quite-dying friendship, but it’s all he’s got. It’s not like he could really  _ approach _ Katsuki with this issue in the first place. At best, he’d probably flat-out deny they were friends at all, and at worst… well, Izuku might get a bruise or two, but it wouldn’t be the worst thing that’s happened to Izuku. 

Still, the internet might be the best way to go about this, or at least this is what Izuku tells himself as he starts typing. 

“My best friend (m 15) and I (also m 15) have known each other for over 10 years, but suddenly he’s been acting distant and incredibly standoffish. It’s not like I mind, especially when he calls me names or pushes me around (I know he doesn’t mean it, not really) but I’m kind of worried that we’ll just keep growing more and more distant. He’s my best friend, no matter how he’s been acting, so how do I tell him that I want to go back to how we were before?”

He reads it over more times than he probably should. And, before he can second-guess himself more than he already has, he presses submit and the question is open to the public. 

He checks it in the morning on the way to school. Most of the replies are people telling him to forget about Katsuki. “He’s not your friend if he treats you like that” so on and so forth. But they just don’t  _ get it _ . They’re friends where it counts and Izuku  _ knows this _ like he knows his own birthday. And they don’t know the  _ look  _ Katsuki gives him sometimes after a particularly harsh shove or when his name calling goes a step too far and there’s tears welling up in Izuku’s eyes. There’s pity, sure, but most of the expression that dawns on Katsuki’s face during those moments is one of regret. Hurt, like Katsuki knew how Izuku was feeling. 

And really, it’s that look that convinces Izuku. He locks his phone and shoves it back into his pocket. 

It’s lunchtime, after Katsuki bumps shoulders with him in the hallway on the way to class, after a death stare from those not-as-cold-as-they-should-be red eyes, that Izuku gets an nice reply. 

“you guys seem rlly close! my childhood friend and i are almost the same! if you two are anything like us, your friend probably wants to talk to you but doesn’t know how to say it! I keep pestering my friend when this happens, and he always breaks eventually lol good luck!”

It’s reassuring, in a sense, to know that Izuku isn’t alone in this situation. Still, the prospect is… daunting at best.  _ Pestering him? _ Sure, maybe he could show up at his house and hang around like they used to in middle school, or  _ try _ at least. Anything at school, though, would be an immediate no-go…

Izuku realizes he’s muttering as he notices the stares his classmates pin him with. He immediately shuts his mouth and turns his gaze back to his phone.

If this person has a best friend like Katsuki, maybe they’ll be able to help him figure out what he should do. He hurries to type a reply, something simple and not too desperate as he asks for their email so they could talk more. Izuku doesn’t know he’s smiling until the leg of his desk is being kicked.

“What’re you grinning at, stupid Deku?” Katsuki barks, staring down at him, his hands tucked into his pockets. Izuku tries not to let his smile fall too much as he looks up at him.

“Nothing, Kacchan!” he says, and praises everything out there that his voice doesn’t waver. Katsuki looks a bit smug at his reply, snorting a bit before turning away and stalking back to his seat. 

Well, that could’ve been worse… and the fact that it wasn’t has Izuku feeling hopeful. 

* * *

Izuku gets an email address later that day and, after school, they start talking. Tooru, Izuku learns, is a third year high school student who lived in another prefecture. He was fascinated with conspiracy theories, especially ones with aliens in them, but was also pretty knowledgeable of the  _ Plus Ultra! _ comic series Izuku, and Katsuki, read back in middle school. 

He would have to admit, talking to someone he didn't know and probably has never met was a little weird. But it also felt… pretty great. There was a sense of freedom and ease, being anonymous like this and talking to someone he didn’t know in real life. And it was so,  _ so _ good to know that he wasn’t alone. 

Iwa-chan, Tooru told him, was almost exactly how Izuku described Kacchan. Close as close could be as kids and then something…  _ switched _ . Though, Tooru said, it wasn’t anything close to how physical Kacchan got, besides a volleyball to the head every now and then. But that was just how Iwa-chan was. Tooru said that was how Iwa-chan expressed that he cared. And, whenever things got particularly bad, Tooru would wait, asking and asking but never forcing anything, no matter how long it took. 

“He always broke eventually, but I think it was only when we were alone. Me annoying him let him know i was there, and us being alone let him know that whatever was bothering him would only stay between us.”

That’s how Tooru put it, and Izuku thought it was sweet and all but… the thought of  _ intentionally bugging _ Kacchan made his insides turn to jelly. Everyone would think he was insane, and Kacchan would think that he was challenging him or something…

“Try? At least once? If things go terrible, then you know what’s best. But you never know! Kacchan might be more like Iwa-chan than we think!”

So, determined to at least try, Izuku does his best.

“H-hi Kacchan!” he greets as Kacchan passes by when he’s slipping on his school shoes at his locker. The blonde blinks, almost surprised, before he glares.

“The hell’re you saying hi for?” Kacchan spits, and the two or three boys hovering behind him laugh, expecting Izuku to cower. He doesn’t, though, he can’t. 

“What does a-anyone say hi for?” Izuku asks, not looking away as Kacchan’s red glare turns sharper with irritation. 

“You really grew a spine, didn’t you?” a boy jeers from behind Kacchan, incredulous. 

“What makes you think you can talk back, huh?!” another snaps.

Izuku almost expects Kacchan to surge forward, to grab him by the collar and shake him and yell at him… but instead, all he does is click his tongue and turn away. 

“Shut it, small fry!” he barks, but even Izuku can tell that there’s no bite to the words. 

Smiling, Izuku pulls his phone from his pocket to tell Tooru about his attempt. 

Tooru calls it progress. Izuku takes what he can get.

* * *

Days pass just like this. Saying hi in the morning, and every other chance that Izuku can get, and getting rebuffed mildly. Izuku doesn’t know if it’s a good thing or not when he says, “Hi, Kacchan!” and gets a huff in reply. 

“I don’t know if this is working or not,” Izuku texts Tooru after school.

“What’s wrong, Izu-chan?” Tooru replies, almost immediately. Izuku guesses he must be on his phone constantly. And that he’s a fan of cutesy nicknames. 

“Kacchan barely looks at me anymore. And when I say hi to him, it’s like he doesn’t even care!” But Izuku thinks it sounds stupid, deletes it all, tries again. “Maybe I’m just making all this worse by…”

A ping. 

“Izu-chan, you’re typing too much. Breathe, okay?”

Izuku does. He takes a deep breath before typing again.

“Maybe I’m just making all this worse by bugging him. I mean, he doesn’t even look at me anymore…”

“Hmm…” is Tooru’s reply.

And that makes Izuku nearly flip. Because what does he mean, “Hmm?” He’s supposed to be helping and this isn’t helping! What if Izuku just ruined everything he had with Kacchan all because he took some advice from a random internet stranger? Was all this just one big troll? He wants to throw his phone, he’s so distraught, and he nearly misses it when Tooru’s next message comes. 

“Iwa-chan always pulled me aside and told me what was wrong. Maybe Kacchan needs you to go to him? You know, really ask him what’s wrong. Sometimes being direct gives the best results!”

“You think I should ask him?”

“Why not? You said it yourself that you aren’t sure if you’re making it worse or not. Worst case scenario is things go back to how they were before. You’ve got nothing to lose.”

“...Why does it sound like you’ve put so much thought into this?”

“Volleyball. Thinking about strategy on the court kind of leaks out to strategy everywhere.”

“Makes sense.”

“And so does talking to Kacchan! So do it!”

* * *

The next day, Izuku waits after school near Kacchan’s locker. It’s excruciating, alone with his thoughts and nothing but hope to keep him together. And Tooru, Izuku amends, as he looks through their messages. Tooru was confident that things would work out between he and Kacchan; all Izuku can do is trust his upperclassman. 

Deep in thought and trying his best not to fall into a panic spiral, Izuku nearly misses when Kacchan turns the corner and stops, staring at him.

“What’re you doing?” Kacchan asks, and if Izuku wasn’t paying attention, he thinks he might’ve missed the words entirely. He yanks his locker open and switches out his shoes.

“I…” Izuku gulps. “Well, I just thought we could walk home together? I-it’s been a while….”

“What does it matter to  _ you _ if we walk home or not?” Kacchan bites, pulling on his second shoe. When he looks back up and meets Izuku’s eye, Izuku knows that the question wasn’t a challenge; it was genuine. 

“We’re friends, right?” Izuku says. He doesn’t like the way Kacchan’s shoulders tense, how his hands flex into fists as they sit at his sides. “Of course, it matters,” he finishes, dully, not knowing what else to say. 

Kacchan sighs, like the words aren’t enough, and pushes past him, towards the school’s entrance. Izuku’s entire body sags with failure, and he doesn’t even have it in him to reach for his phone to tell Tooru before…

“Oi! You comin’ or what?”

Izuku jump at the words, shocked, finding Kacchan standing at the door and glaring at him, stern. Telling him, without saying anything, to hurry up.

“Y-yes, Kacchan!”

The walk towards their houses was relatively quiet. Izuku followed about a half a step behind Kacchan, letting him lead, just like when they were kids. After every stoplight, though, when started walking across the street again, Kacchan lagged, almost like he wanted Izuku to walk in front of him or, even, beside him. It made Izuku curious and nervous all at the same time; Kacchan never once had an issue with Izuku trailing behind him… why would he now?

As they near Kacchan’s house, which was only blocks away from Izuku’s apartment complex, Izuku pulls out his phone. He’s planning on texting Tooru about their walk, but the moment he starts typing, Kacchan’s shoulder bumps into his. 

“Who’re you texting?” Kacchan asks, gruff, giving him a weird sort of look. Izuku sputters, trying to find an answer but one doesn’t come to him immediately. 

“Uhm, ah, just a… a friend…” Izuku manages to get out, mentally kicking himself for hesitating. 

“A friend?” Kacchan sounds skeptical. Izuku mentally kicks himself harder.

“It’s uhm, an internet friend, I guess?”

“You’re gonna get catfished, you know.”

“I-it’s not like that!” Izuku shakes his head, reddening at the implication in Kacchan’s voice. “He’s just… just a friend. From another prefecture, that’s all.”

“If you say so,” Kacchan says, shrugging. 

They reach Kacchan’s house in no time, Izuku following him all the way up to the front porch. He doesn’t know how to invite himself inside, or even tell Kacchan that he really just wanted to talk, the words keep sticking in his throat and he can’t get them out and…

“The hell are you muttering for?” Kacchan cuts through his internal monologue easily, just like he’s always done. “And why’re you just standing there? Go home!”

“Actually, I--!” Izuku starts to say, trying his best, but he’s cut off by the front door swinging open, Kacchan’s mother appearing in its opening, her voice filling the air like a command.

“Brat, what the hell are you yelling--?!” she starts, her voice dying as she sees Izuku just beyond her son. “Oh, Izuku!” Bakugo Mitsuki exclaims, stepping out and pulling Izuku into a hug. “It’s been forever! How are you?”

“I’m… I’m alright…” Izuku says, hugging her back. In the dim light pouring out of the Bakugo house, Izuku sees Kacchan roll his eyes. 

“You’ve grown so much,” Mitsuki babbles, absolutely overjoyed to see Izuku. “You must be hungry. Have you eaten yet?”

“Uhm…”

“Great! You can stay for dinner!” Mitsuki says, hugging him once more before nearly pulling him inside. “I’ll text your mom to let her know you’re here for a bit… oh! We should have a dinner, all of us, just like old times!”

“He’s got things to do,” Katsuki grumbles, just as Mitsuki pulls him inside. He closes the door behind the three of them, already kicking off his shoes, but he glares at Izuku critically. “Right, Deku?” The words are nearly ground out from between his teeth. 

“Shut it,” Mitsuki snaps at her son, giving back the glare he was directing at Izuku. “He can stay over whenever he wants. He’s practically family!”

“I… shouldn’t stay for long,” Izuku says, stopping their squabbling. He wants to say something about talking, wanting to catch up,  _ anything _ really, but he doesn’t know how to say it. Instead, he shifts his gaze to Kacchan and hopes he understands. 

And, thankfully, he does.

“Fine,” Kacchan says, grabbing the collar of Izuku’s shirt and pulling him deeper into the house. Izuku squeaks, scrambling to get his shoes off without falling over, and Mitsuki yells at Kacchan for being too rough, but Kacchan ignores them both, dragging Izuku up the stairs and into his room. 

“You planned this all out or somethin’, didn’t you?” Kacchan asks, rounding on him once he’s in his room and he’s slammed the door behind them. “What the hell do you want?”

“I just… want to talk to you,” Izuku breathes out, a weight leaving him. Kacchan doesn’t move, just continues staring at him, like he wants more of an explanation. “Since we started high school you’ve been… I don’t know, different? I’m just scared that… I don’t want to lose my best friend. So…” Izuku looks down at his feet, quickly, like he was grounding himself, before he glances back up and stares at Kacchan, “is everything okay?”

For a second, it seems like time is frozen. The room is deathly cold and quiet as Izuku and Kacchan just… stare. And then it all breaks, Kacchan letting out a shaky sigh and walking over to his bed before he collapses on it. 

“Leave it to Deku to notice,” he mutters under his breath, his face in his hands. Izuku takes it as a cue to sit down next to him, and he does so gingerly. “I was terrible to you in middle school.”

“It wasn’t that--”

“I was,” Kacchan snaps, cutting him off. “And it was stupid. People thought you were a nerd, and you are but… I didn’t want people to make fun of me, too. I was terrible, but we were still…”

Kacchan can’t get it out, but Izuku knows. They still hung out outside school, they were still close even if school was rough. 

“What changed?” Izuku prompts, and Kacchan sucks in a breath.

“The old hag sent me back to our middle school for some documents or some shit,” Kacchan says, quiet and heavy, “and when I was walking down the hallways, all the kids were…” He stops, then starts again. “All the kids were avoiding me. They didn’t even look at me, like I was some kind of monster. And it… hit me, that if they thought that, what did you think?”

Izuku wants to reach out, somehow, but he can’t make himself move. 

“I was mad at myself for doing all that shit to you, and I knew you probably hated me so…” Kacchan sucks in a breath. “It sounds stupid, being worse to you because I felt bad about being terrible to you, but I thought if I pushed you away, you would get it. That you couldn’t forgive me… that you shouldn’t.”

“I never held all that against you, you know,” Izuku says after a moment. “I never once thought that you weren’t anything but my best friend. Even if you weren’t acting like it.”

“How?” Kacchan asks, incredulous and choked up all at once. It makes Izuku’s chest ache. “I  _ hurt _ you! You couldn’t’ve really thought--”

“You don’t do anything without a reason,” Izuku says. “And I know you, probably better than myself. I could just… tell sometimes, that you regretted doing all that.”

Kacchan glares at that, but it’s kind of like a squint.

“You’re really too fuckin’ observant.”

Izuku laughs. 

“Well, I had a little help,” Izuku says, rubbing the back of his neck.

“From who?” Kacchan asks, before he stops. “The catfish guy?”

“He’s not catfishing me!” Izuku says, making to grab one of Kacchan’s pillows and hit him with it, but Kacchan stops him. “But… yeah. He has a childhood friend too and he kind of… told me what his friend is like, and told me I should talk to you about all this. I… just needed someone to tell me that I wasn’t crazy for still believing in you, I guess.”

“You  _ are _ crazy,” Kacchan scoffs. “But I guess it’s for the better.”

“Yeah, I guess so,” Izuku says. “I should probably get going, before my mom gets worried.”

“She probably called the cops and told them you’re missing by now,” Kacchan jokes.

“Probably,” Izuku mutters, shaking his head. “See you at school?”

“Yeah,” Kachan replies. Izuku nods, getting up and heading for the door, when… “Deku.”

“What?”

“My mom’s right,” Kacchan said, rolling his eyes a bit, like it pained him to say that. “You can stop by whenever.”

Izuku smiles.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

On his way out, after Izuku pulls on his shoes and gets about three more hugs from Auntie Mitsuki, Izuku takes out his phone and messages Tooru.

“You were right.”

* * *

Early one Sunday morning, Izuku and Kacchan step off a train into another prefecture. They’re nearly swept away by the flow of people in and out of the train station, when Izuku hears someone shouting “Izu-chan!” and waving their hands above their head frantically. 

Tugging on Kacchan’s sleeve and pointing, they both make their way towards the person, who’s absolutely beaming. 

“Tooru-san, right?” Izuku asks, shoulders to his ears.

“I’m not anyone else, why would I be?” Tooru says, his smile never faltering. 

“I thought you were a fuckin’ catfish,” Kacchan answers, unapologetic. 

“Ah… I take it you’re Kacchan?”

“Don’t call me that!”

“Katsuki-chan,” Tooru hums, amending the nickname. All Kacchan does is huff in annoyance. 

“Don’t mind him,” someone says, shoving Tooru’s shoulder hard enough to nearly topple him over. “He likes teasing people for no reason.”

“Hey!” Tooru pouts, but the person doesn’t flinch. 

“Iwa-chan…?” Izuku ventures.

“Or Hajime,” he says with a shrug.

“Great, now that we know we all exist, what the hell are we doing here?” Kacchan asks, hands in his pockets resolutely. His eyes keep flicking to Tooru, like he’s not sure what the older boy is going to do next. It’s funny, Izuku thinks, to see him so on-edge like this.

“No need to be so grumpy,” Tooru says with a wave of his hand, “Iwa-chan’s got that covered.”

Tooru nonchalantly dodges a smack to his shoulder. Iwa-chan rolls his eyes, like he was expecting that. 

“How do you deal with that all the time?” Kacchan asks Iwa-chan, jerking his head in Tooru’s direction.

“That’s the thing,” Iwa-chan says, his lips pulling into an almost-devious smile, “I don’t.”

“This was a bad idea,” Tooru declares, slinging an arm around Izuku’s shoulders. “I knew they were going to bully us.”

“They aren’t, really…” Izuku says, stumbling along as Tooru starts walking. 

“You’re too nice, Izu-chan,” Tooru scolds with a slight pout. “Sometimes, you have to fight back! Otherwise, they’ll step all over you!”

“You’d probably like that, you freak,” Izuku hears Kacchan mumble behind them. He has to keep himself from laughing. Iwa-chan presses his knuckles to Kacchan’s shoulder, a mock-hit.

“He’s annoying,” Iwa-chan says with a slight nod, “but you still have to be nice.”

Kacchan clicks his tongue, indignant. 

“So!” Tooru says, squeezing Izuku’s shoulders. “How’s school? What’re you guys learning?”

They talk as they leave the station and wander around the city. Izuku’s almost surprised how easy it is, almost like they were old friends. Even Kacchan and Iwa-chan seemed to be talking just fine, which was better than Izuku ever expected. 

“You mutter a lot,” Tooru says with a laugh, “you know that?”

“Uh,” Izuku says, blinking, “yeah. Sorry, it’s… a bad habit.”

“Needing to talk through things isn’t a bad habit,” Tooru says, nudging his shoulder. “Don’t apologize for it.”

“A-alright…”

The four come to stop at a small park, a jungle gym in the distance with some straggling kids screaming and playing, but what catches Izuku’s attention is what’s nearby: a slightly tattered volleyball net. 

“You planned this, didn’t you?” Izuku asks under his breath as Iwa-chan slips a volleyball out of the duffle bag he was carrying and tosses it to Kacchan. He catches it deftly. 

“Something told me he would be good at it,” Tooru replies, equally low. Iwa-chan is explaining something to Kacchan as they wander towards the net. “You, too,” he adds.

“M-me?” Izuku can’t help but stutter.

“You’ve got the determination,” Tooru says, grinning. “And I’m sure you’ve got the skill. It’s there somewhere! Besides,” he says, slinging an arm over Izuku’s shoulders again. The feeling was almost comforting by now. “You’re practically my little brother,” Tooru laughs, “athleticism runs in our metaphorical veins!”

“Oi, Shitty-kawa!” Iwa-chan shouts, nearly shocking Izuku out of his skin. “Set to me for a sec!”

“Fine, Iwa-chan!” Tooru shouts back, sticking out his tongue before he turns his gaze back to Izuku. “You wanna learn?”

“I…” Izuku hesitates, before steeling himself. “I can try!”

**Author's Note:**

> thank you so much for reading!!
> 
> im sorry this wasn't as shippy as i would have wanted it to be, this story was kept strictly platonic per the parameters of the zine! still, you can think of this as a precursor story, where Izuku and Katsuki work out their issues and become closer and closer all the time :)
> 
> please leave a comment and tell me what you think, and please look into the BNHAXHaikyuu! zine if you can! it's a really incredible compilation of art and writing!
> 
> love ya!  
-HB


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